A federal court has dismissed a bankruptcy filing by a construction firm headed by Rappahannock County contractor Edward D. “Eddie” Fletcher Jr.
In mid-April, E. Fletcher Construction LLC filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Harrisonburg under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code, which allows a business to continue to operate while it proposes a reorganization plan.
But U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Rebecca B. Connelly dismissed the petition on May 12 in a brief order that did not detail the reasons.
Warrenton attorney John P. Goetz, who had filed the bankruptcy petition on April 17, could not be reached for comment. A paralegal for Goetz, contacted by phone, said only that “Mr. Fletcher has been dismissed out of his bankruptcy, so we don’t have any comment at this time.
“He didn’t comply with what was required,” she said of Fletcher, adding that Goetz no longer represents him.
Efforts to reach Fletcher for comment were unsuccessful.
Roanoke attorney Richard C. Maxwell, who had been appointed by the court to serve as “trustee” in overseeing the case, also declined to comment. Bankruptcy trustees have the authority to examine a debtor’s assets and can order that they be liquidated, with some or all of the proceeds being distributed to creditors. They also can order a reorganization plan for a petitioner’s business.
The petition lists the company’s “estimated liabilities” within a range of $100,001 to $500,000, and its “estimated assets” within a range from $50,001 to $100,000.
The petition lists several local creditors among those with the 20 largest claims against E. Fletcher Construction. The petition also lists others in New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, California, Georgia, Michigan and West Virginia.
Fletcher, 55, was charged earlier this year with two felonies in connection with a Woodville construction and remodeling job.
In one, according to a criminal complaint filed in Rappahannock General District Court, Fletcher is alleged to have received $456,081.45 from Robert McKee and his wife for “demolition, remodeling and new construction” at their Woodville residence. Only a “small amount of cosmetic work was done to remove an overhang on the house and an attempt was made to dig footings,” according to a complaint filed by the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office.
As of the date of the criminal complaint, the filing states that no county building or health department permits had been obtained and that the McKee’s requests to see them and attempts to “get work started and moving were met with different excuses about why work was not proceeding.”
Soon after the first criminal complaint, a second was filed in General District Court accusing Fletcher of embezzling $32,000 from the McKees. It alleged the McKees had given a $32,000 check to Fletcher to purchase appliances they had selected. The appliances were delivered to a warehouse “but have never been paid for,” according to the court filing by the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office.
